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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

After playing their last four games on the road and winning only one of them, the Devils begin a stretch Wednesday against Toronto in which they play four of their next five at Prudential Center.

Even the one road game is only a two-hour bus ride away in Philadelphia on Thursday (the second of three games in four nights), so the Devils will be home for almost all of the next two weeks.

That’s a brief break during a challenging run in which they play 15 out of 21 overall on the road. After their Nov. 11 home game against Washington, the Devils go on a five-game road trip and a run of 10 out of 12 on the road.

“We’ve got to get back on the winning track,” center Patrik Elias said today. “It doesn’t matter if it’s at home or we’re away. It’s nice to be at home here, everybody again settled with their families and everything. We have three games in four and we’ve got to start off right. We’re playing the Toronto Maple Leafs. They’re playing good hockey. They work hard and they’ve got a couple of dangerous guys.”

The Devils (4-4-1) have lost four of their last five overall (one in a shootout) following a three-game winning streak and continue to struggle offensively. In two of their three losses during the road trip, including Saturday’s 3-1 loss in Dallas, they scored only one goal. They’ve scored only 18 total goals in their nine games and have scored one goal or fewer four times (winning one of them in a shootout).

“We know how to play to win,” Elias said. “In the last three games, we played that way maybe for seven periods out of the nine, but we still didn’t get the wins that we wanted to. We really have to put the puck in to win hockey games. We had chances. We’ve got to bury those, stay loose a little bit and stay focused on those chances, and I think we’ll be OK. We’re working hard defensively, playing OK, but it’s just that you’re not going to win too many hockey games scoring just one goal.”

The Devils will be tested by a surprising Maple Leafs squad that is 7-3-1 so far and is led by Phil Kessel, who ranks first in the NHL in goals with 10 and points with 18.

“They’re playing well, (with) a lot of confidence, a lot of speed,” Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. “I think they’re real deep up front and they’ve given their defense a facelift there and they’re very active and jumping into the play. When teams like that play with confidence, they’re a hard team to handle.”

“Every team has players that are top players,” Devils goalie Martin Brodeur said. “I think these guys are no different. They have guys that can shoot the puck, guys that are quick, some creative players. They have some offense from their (defensemen) with (Dion) Phaneuf and (John-Michael) Liles. They’re a good team. They’ve been playing well this year. They’re a good offensive team.”

***Other subjects DeBoer discussed after today’s practice:

On Ryan Carter’s play since joining the Devils: “I think he’s come as advertised. I knew him. He’s given us exactly what I thought he would give us. He’s a big-bodied guy that plays with some speed, finishes his hits and is defensively reliable and can kill penalties, so those are valuable people in the depth of your lineup and I think he’s delivered on that.”

On whether the Devils drawing only eight power play opportunities on their four-game road trip (and not scoring on any of them) is an issue: “It is. We went a stretch where we were getting one a night. It’s like anything. You need reps if you’re going to be successful at something. So, as a team, we have to do a better job of generating power-play opportunities and that means moving your feet, holding on to the puck, attacking holes. That’s where you draw those penalties.”

On defending Kessel: “He’s absolutely flying in the clips I’ve seen of him out there. It’s one, team awareness of when he’s on the ice. He has the ability that you can think you’re in good position against a guy like that and all the sudden he’s five feet by you. So, that’s something that we have to be aware of - take away his time and space and try and limit him. You know he’s going to get opportunities, like (Ilya) Kovalchuk for us. We just have to try to limit them.”

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.